Israeli authorities raided and shut down a Palestinian radio station for six months for allegedly “inciting terrorist attacks” during predawn hours on Thursday in Hebron city in the southern occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers raided the al-Hurriya (Freedom) Media Company in Hebron — which runs the Manbar al-Hurriya radio station and al-Nawras TV — and destroyed, damaged, and confiscated various equipment, according to Ayman al-Qawasmi, the head of the radio station.

“We were not surprised at the occupation’s barbaric policy and they will not be able to silence the voice of al-Hurriya,” al-Qawasmi told Ma’an, adding that it was not the first time the radio had been shuttered by Israeli forces.

https://twitter.com/OccPalGaza/status/903220414238908416

Israeli forces issued a military order that the station be closed for six months owing to charges of “inciting terrorist attacks,” according to the order posted on the door of the company. All employees and workers have been banned from entering the building until Feb. 14, 2018, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

According to Wafa, Mahmoud Iqnibi, public relations manager for the company, said that the radio and TV station had been raided, and that soldiers had “uninstalled transmission devices, broke the live camera and surveillance cameras and equipment.”

Iqnibi added that the closure order was “an attempt to silence Palestinians and cover (up) Israel’s crimes.”

Israeli authorities have long restricted Palestinian freedom of expression through censoring social media activity and imprisoning journalists, activists, poets, and novelists.

(Maan, PC, Social Media)